Day 27-29: Touristing in Auckland (591-605)
Since Christmas I've been touristing around Auckland.
On the 26th I celebrated Boxing Day by buying a few water bottles from an outdoor store and headed to the zoo. I was determined to see a living kiwi before leaving New Zealand. On my walk to the zoo, I passed through Western Springs park. It was filled with ducks and black and white swans and some other birds I didn't recognize that were somewhat blue with red beaks.
The zoo has a nocturnal house so you can see the kiwis wandering around foraging with their beaks. They are so funny and the zookeeper said they have terrible eyesight. They have a good sense of touch though and use whiskers like cats do. I'm so excited I saw a Kiwi! The rest of the zoo was pretty good, but it was absolutely packed with little kids. Ohio has given me pretty high standards for zoos, and I enjoyed this one.
After the zoo I went to Parnell and walked around. It was a really nice area and had lots of nice shops. They were all closed for Christmas. But that kept me from buying anything, so that's probably good. After that I went to see Moana. It came out in the US before I left, but I didn't get to see it. For some reason it came out on Christmas in Auckland.
On the 27th the morning was spent going through all my belongings, planning where to send things, and packing food up for a food box and for the days ahead. Once I was done, I took the ferry to Devonport and walked from North Head back to the ferry. They have old guns and barracks and tunnels at North Head you can walk around. And really close to it is a free Navy Museum.
The walk from North Head Devonport (and the ferry ride) is part of the TA, so I can cross those kilometers off my list. Then I walked the Coast to Coast Walkway to One Tree Hill, which is also part of the TA. It was a wonderful walk through streets and lots of parks. It goes through the Auckland Domain and Mount Eden. At Mount Eden there's a huge crater because it was a volcano. And from the top of it you can look out and see lots of other remains of volcanoes, the sky tower and the rest of the downtown skyline, as well as One Tree Hill, which is where I was headed next.
The view from One Tree Hill was nice too, and there were sheep everywhere. At this park right in the city! Free lawn mowers maybe? One Tree Hill is right by the Stardome I visited a few days ago, so I took the same bus back I had taken the other day.
When I got back to the hostel, I spent the evening going through my things again and packing everything I needed to mail to the post office. As I looked over the maps for tomorrow and the next day, I realized it was just city walking without much to look at. I had been told that by a few people. When I read the trail notes describe, in detail, the walk past an old and newer sewage treatment plant, I decided I could skip it. I had a lot of work I wanted to do at the library and it wasn't open until tomorrow because of Christmas.
The hostel had a dorm bed left, so I decided to stay one more night than I had planned. I would take a train to the botanical gardens on the 29th and cut about a day and a half of road walking.
Most of my day was spent at the library. The auckland central library has three floors and is really nice. They have drawers and drawers of maps and a nice computer lab you can get a voucher to use.
When I came back to the hostel to cook dinner I saw Kristen! It was so good to see her! We met another TA hiker from Utah healing up an injury and ended up playing cards with two really nice German girls in the evening. We played a game called Wizards that was really fun. It was similar to spades.
After that I was ready for bed! Hopefully I'll see Kristen again soon and will be motivated to hit the trail in the morning.
Black swan in the park by the zoo
An interesting bird in Western Springs Park
Another crazy looking bird in Western Springs Park. These were all over!
It felt like Lion King at the zoo
An adorable 0-2 year-old tortoise
A Kiwi! They're nocturnal so this photo was taken in a very dark enclosure.
In case the last photo was hard to see, here's the zoo keeper feeding a Kiwi.
Parnell
Christmas must be over. These are petals from a pohutukawa tree on a sidewalk in Auckland
Dusk in downtown Auckland
Tons of people wait for the ferry to Devonport. Going there must be a popular Christmas Holiday activity!
An old engine room at North Head
The view of Auckland from Devonport's North Head
From North Head
Picnic, old guns, and the Auckland City Skyline at North Head
Pohutukawa tree and the Auckland Skyline from Devonport
The ferry from Devonport to Auckland
Emily Place on the Clast to Coast Walkway. These trees looked like they could take over all of Aucklandnif you have them enough time.
The clock tower at the university. The Coast to Coast Walkway went through two college campuses
An interesting sculpture in the Auckland Domain on the Coast to Coast Walkway
The Auckland Domain on the Coast to Coast Walkway
The view from Mount Eden on the Coast to Coast Walkway
Downtown Auckland and the crater at Mount Eden on the Coast to Coast Walkway
Auckland from Mount Eden on the Coast to Coast Walkway
Selfie with Auckland from Mount Eden
One last photo from Mount Eden. You can see a few of the other remains of old volcanoes in the distance, including One Tree Hill
Cornwall Park Fountain on the Coast to Coast Walkway
A sheep and One Tree Hill on the Coast to Coast Walkway
One Tree Hill on the Coast to Coast Walkway